Together Forever
by Aria6
Summary: An alternate universe where Wily never went insane, bioroids are almost slaves... and Quick is granted three wishes! ^^ Come and see what happens next! Apologies to Oh My Goddess for the basic idea. :)
1. Dellhell

The Beginning of... Something?  
  
  
Quick stared at the TV, feeling his brain going numb. The program was stimulating enough… Wild Discovery was always fascinating… but the commercials were enough to fry the circuits, most of the time.  
  
I…Man I'm bored. I've seen this one, it's a rerun. All about Hyenas, their social structure and mating habits… the pups are cute though./I Quick lay his head back with a sigh. II'm so pathetic./I  
  
He ran a hand through his short, auburn hair, and contemplated himself for a moment.  
  
He'd been sold to Dell as a computer analyst. He was okay at it, not stellar, but he'd been a deal… Dr. Light and Dr. Wily had been frustrated with his clumsiness and good nature. He'd been rejected for the military deal, which still hurt a bit… several of his siblings had gone to them. A lot of people were still troubled by the thought of robots that could harm humans, but that was necessary for military applications. And they had strengthened the second rule to the point that it was so hard to disobey…  
  
IWhich is why I'm in Dellhell./I Quick glanced around sadly. He was on the company grounds. They didn't pay him enough to have an apartment, so he basically lived in the lounge. He showered in the company gym on the top floor, and spent most of the time watching TV. There was nothing much else to do, in between putting in a sixteen hour work day.  
  
And for what?  
  
The human workers weren't friendly at all… most viewed him as a threat to their jobs. Cheap robot workers could do their work, and they'd all be laid off. Of course, that wouldn't happen… robots were very expensive, except for rejects like himself… but that didn't dampen the prejudice any. On top of his natural clumsiness, he had to endure tripping and cruel jokes. It never seemed to end. If there was blame to be dumped, he'd be sure to get it.  
  
Quick rubbed his face against the armrest of the chair, moisture rimming his dark eyes. II hate it here. I hate it. And no one cares./I That hurt the most. Wily and Light didn't care at all, what they had sent him into. They had just wanted to get the value of his parts, since he was so useless.  
  
His siblings had probably forgotten him… they'd only been together for six months, before the others were sent to their various places. He'd received a card and letter from his sibs in the military… they'd all been kept together, and put with the ones from the first generation who'd been sent there.  
  
The letter had almost made him cry. It was so… happy. They said they'd only had minor problems, they were treated well, and the training was fun and interesting. They liked the humans they worked with and were looking forward to defending the country. It seemed the armed forces had a knack for inspiring loyalty… but they'd almost have to. Without the first law firmly in place, loyalty and the second law were very important.  
  
But the contrast to his own life was just so painful. He'd written back, but hadn't received anything after that.  
  
II wish I was with them… I wish I hadn't tripped over my own feet during the exam…/I Quick sniffed softly, rubbing his eyes before any tears could escape. Then he took a deep breath, turning his attention back to the TV, trying to loose himself in the nature program.  
  
There was no point in thinking about the bleak future ahead of him. It wouldn't change.  
  
IHyena pups are so cute. I wish I had a puppy. Although not a hyena one./I The thought made him smile, trying to imagine keeping a hyena in the lounge.  
  
"You are a WINNER!" Quick blinked, his attention pulled to the ad on the TV.  
  
It was a very strange ad… especially for Discovery. He'd thought he knew all their ads by heart. And he knew they were always tasteful.  
  
THIS was purely tacky. A loud, TV announcer type character with a very florid face, and the ugliest suit he'd ever seen, was grinning at him from the screen. The background was totally out of place… granite columns, covered in vines with brilliant blue flowers. Delicate fountains, lovely things… and this… used car salesman type shouting at him. It was weird.  
  
"You have won the cosmic lottery!" Quick blinked again, then shook his head.  
  
"Weird commercial." He reached for the remote.  
  
"Don't touch that dial!" He switched the channel anyway and-  
  
"Boy, do we have a prize for you!!!!" A very large, disturbing grin… the exact same commercial? It was getting REALLY weird… Quick stared, unsettled, at the TV screen.  
  
"And your prize is what? Well, the most amazing prize there can be! Think djinni! Think Aladdin and his lamp! Think… three wishes!" The man laughed, waving. "Just for you, my friend!"  
  
"Yeah, right, now give me the 1-900 number and tell me how much it costs." Quick muttered to himself. This was weird… but it was probably just some coincidence with the channels, another scam.  
  
"Our representatives will contact you shortly. Sit tight!" Quick blinked as suddenly the TV switched to A&E Biographies.  
  
I…What was the point of that?/I He wondered to himself, gazing without seeing at the Biography of Marilyn Monroe. IWhy would someone get a commercial just to say that?/I It made no sense at all...  
  
IMmm... I want a coke./I He checked his pockets. Quick had a small wallet, with his debit card, and some loose change. There was just enough... and the drinks were cheap in the employee louge, fifty cents for a coke. IYeah./I  
  
He popped the tab, then sipped thoughtfully on the sweet, frothy drink. He couldn't quite get that commercial out of his mind...  
  
"That was such a weird commercial..."  
  
"Because it wasn't a commercial." The cold, quiet voice made Quick start violently.  
  
"AHH!" He tried to turn, but tripped over his own feet and went sprawling, his coke spilling across the tile floor. Quick flipped over onto his back to see...  
  
A short, slender, pale young man... hanging half in, half out of a shadow. He had black hair so dark it shone with blue highlights, and his eyes were obscured by a visor. But Quick could see a tiny black crystal on his forehead, and small, black triangles pointing down under his eyes. He wore a yellow scarf, that flowed back into that shadow against the wall...  
  
"You... ah... annnh?" Quick stared at this apparition for a brief moment, before his neural net took the only avenue of relief open to it.  
  
He fainted. 


	2. Three Wishes

Three Wishes?  
  
Blues regarded Quick's unconscious body with mingled irritation, and amusement. His face reflected none of his feelings, though, as he stepped completely free of the shadow.  
  
He'd wanted to give the wishes, and get out, back to his usual job. But it seemed things were going to take a little longer than that.  
  
This wasn't his place, giving wishes. But it had really been entirely his own fault he'd gotten stuck doing it.  
  
hr  
  
I"You neglected to come to the planning meeting. Again." Blues stared into cold, fishlike eyes. A shriveled old woman, not human at all, but looking close enough, sat behind a large desk. It had a pad of paper, and one of the usual desk ornaments, a pendulum of iron balls. It was very... bureaucratic.  
  
They both served the same force, but that was about all that was the same about them. And even that was suspect, since they differed in secondary force. Blues was chaotic. The Administrator was static.  
  
But they both served the negative force, and in his few duties, he was under her control. He merely met her gaze, saying nothing.  
  
She was good at staring contests, but with his visor, she could not win. She finally wrinkled her lips, and held out a paper. He took it, folding it.  
  
"You should read it now." Blues tilted his head to one side, startled. She sounded... nastily amused. He slowly unfolded the paper, reading it.  
  
Most was as he expected. A week guarding the WorldGate. A period where he would watch over and aid an anti-paladin. That was a bit dark for his taste, but a necessary duty given that the positive had assigned a godling to their paladin. A terrorist attack he would need to supervise… a neat note said it should fail, but one person in particular had to die during it. The humans would not know it, but a senseless death would be for the ultimate purpose… although Blues wasn't certain what purpose that was. Anymore than when he was sent to look after a disaster, to make certain some particular lives were spared.  
  
But standing out among the others like a pretty flower in a toadstool ring...  
  
"Grant three wishes to the winner of the cosmic lottery?!?" He stared at the entry. "What? That's not within my duties!"  
  
"It is now." The Administrator said with a sour, satisfied smile. "I have mentioned before that part of meetings is the delegating of unpleasant tasks." Blues had to resist an urge to throttle her, and instead, spoke tightly.  
  
"That isn't even within my sphere. I'm chaotic, and luck does come into what I do, but I'm also negative. Why isn't a chaotic godling handling this? And what's wrong with the usual one?" This kind of assignment could only mean that for some reason, the person who had this as a regular duty was unavailable.  
  
"She is, unusually enough, pregnant." The Administrator looked at a paper on her desk. "She'll be eight months along with the lottery comes up. We don't want her handling that much power that late in her pregnancy. And you, not being present at the meeting, became the convenient victim."  
  
"I… see." That was how the meetings worked… and he could understand why they wouldn't want the godling of luck handling it. Pregnancies were unbelievably rare… this was the second he could recall, in the several thousand years he'd been here… and they often changed the universe. And all that was needed of her replacement was a chaotic nature. His negative nature might make the luck a bit more prone to unpleasant nuances, but that was all. "Fine. I'll take care of it." It wouldn't take more than a day in any case.  
  
"I knew you would." The Administrator gave him a sour, but approving smile. Blues just nodded, and turned to leave. The Administrator turned to a more problematic note, any concern for him and his duties out of her mind.  
  
Unlike some others, Blues could be counted on to handle tasks he did not terribly care for./I  
  
hr  
  
So here he was, granting wishes. Blues pointed two fingers at the floor, cleaning up the mess of coke with a casual exercise of power. He wanted to get all of this over quickly.  
  
And as for Quick...  
  
He considered several options to wake up the slender robot, and finally settled on the simplest.  
  
He walked over and casually kicked Quick in the ribs.  
  
"OW!" Quick was jerked out of pleasant darkness by a painful sensation in his side. "What was that... for..." He stared up into the pale, expressionless face above him. It hadn't been a dream. It was real...  
  
"What are your three wishes?" Blues asked the speedster patiently.  
  
"Wh-wh-what..." Quick swallowed hard, sitting up and running a hand through his hair. The whole situation was overwhelming, but he was starting to get a grip on it. "Who are you? Wh-what are the limits on the... wishes?" This still felt so unbelievable... but being talked to by a commercial, then seeing this person hanging out of a shadow on the wall was making him a believer. Blues smiled slightly in approval. Quick was starting to think, and had asked a good question.  
  
"I am Blues, the robot prototype." Quick's eyes widened at that... he'd never heard Wily or Light mention Blues... but Blues went on before he could speak. "There are a few limits on the wishes. The most important is that the wishes cannot affect the heart and soul of someone else. So while asking for world peace would be very altruistic, I would not be able to grant that request. Likewise falling in love with you. The other limit is that the wish cannot kill. Now, what do you want?" He asked again. He could wait for years, even decades if necessary, but he had no wish to. Although Blues sensed fine negative energy in this place... this company must have a terrible morale problem... he also sensed stifling static. This was the provenance of static decay, and made him vaguely edgy, especially when he was working on a purely chaotic mission.  
  
"Um... I've never heard of you. Why didn't Wily and Light mention you?" Quick asked, confused. Blues tilted his head to one side, then answered with frank, brutal truthfulness.  
  
"Probably because I was a failure to them." He said without rancor or bitterness. It was merely a fact to him. But Quick winced.  
  
"...Like me..." His hands clenched into fists, as he looked at the floor. Suddenly he raised his head, red-brown eyes looking into the black shades. "I wish I was the best at everything I do!" Blues thought for a moment, ran that through his mind... and smiled. He suddenly crossed his arms over his chest, at the wrists, under his chin, two fingers of each hand pointing out. It was the pose he was working with strong forces. The crystal on his forehead flashed for a brief moment with black light.  
  
Then he relaxed.  
  
"Your wish is granted. Next?" Quick blinked, touching his own chest. He didn't feel any different...  
  
What else did he want?  
  
"Unh... tell me something? Do alternate dimensions exist? You know, different universes, different timelines?" He asked hopefully. Blues hesitated a moment, before nodding.  
  
"...Yes... why?" That question made him a bit wary. He and the others like him had dominion over this universe alone... other universes were looked after in different ways, if at all. What could Quick want?  
  
"I wish I could travel to new dimensions whenever I want." He said decisively. Blues blinked, but exercised his borrowed power again. The luck force was potent...  
  
"Granted... but... why?" It was puzzling. Quick suddenly grinned.  
  
"Oh, I wanna see lots of interesting places! And I have to leave THIS place... this whole world. They'll look for me if I just run away." He finished, a bit sad. Blues nodded thoughtfully. It wasn't a foolish wish, when he thought about it.  
  
"And your third?"  
  
"I... I'm not sure." Quick tried to think of something, and came up blank. What did he want...  
  
Well, there was one thing he wanted. He brightened at the thought.  
  
"I know! I know!" He chirruped, grinning again. Blues felt slightly relieved, anticipating going back to his usual duties.  
  
"What do you wish for?"  
  
"Nothing yet! I want you to come with me for pixy sticks, saki and lotsa pizza while I think about it!" He jumped up, grabbing Blues arm and proceeding to drag him out. "C'mon! Let's party!"  
  
"Wh-what?!?" Blues was shocked... but let himself be dragged. He couldn't leave Quick until he made his final wish, anyway.  
  
But what was all this about pixy sticks...? 


	3. Saki, Pixy Sticks and a Cosmic Wish

A Wish, Saki and Pixy Sticks do NOT Mix  
  
Blues was feeling an odd sensation. He'd never really felt it before... he finally managed to name it, after a bit of effort.  
  
Mental fatigue. Quick had bought a huge box of pixy sticks, and was working at making all of them disappear. At first, he'd been practically vibrating, peppering Blues with questions about his history and himself. He'd answered some, and ignored the ones he felt were none of Quick's business as he was dragged to various places. The art museum, the planetarium, the park... Quick just hadn't been able to stop moving.  
  
Now, though, they'd washed up at a very quiet bar. It was the sort of place you could sit in the back and talk, as you drowned your sorrows. And Quick was hitting the saki bottle hard, although he was more euphoric than sorrowful. At least it seemed to be dampening the vibrating...  
  
"I'm out of Dellhell! It's so wonderful! I don't have to go back!" He was chattering drunkenly, eyes bright and shining. "Thank you Blues... thank you! I'm so happy! And now I have a new sibling and everything!" Blues almost choked. He'd never have thought of it THAT way...  
  
But then, being taken back in time, and eventually witnessing his own creation tended to change the perspective...  
  
"Blues... I know what I want for my last wish." Quick suddenly said, looking at him with luminous eyes. Blues hesitated, a bit wary.  
  
"Good... what is it?" It suddenly struck him that a drunken wish might not be the best thing... but then it was too late.  
  
"I'm so lonely... I wish I had a guy like you with me forever." Blues went rigid at that sweet, innocent wish.  
  
IDoes he have the faintest idea of the implications...?/I  
  
Blues raised a hand, and time froze. Well, in actual fact, he stepped outside of time. Time was always variable for cosmic beings...  
  
Then he stepped out of reality altogether.  
  
hr  
  
The domain of chaos was different than last he'd seen it. Not that that was any big surprise. Dynamic power wouldn't tolerate static.  
  
Blues ignored all the wonders around him to find one particular person.  
  
Seated at a modern computer terminal, was a young Japanese man. He was from an ancient era in Japanese history, although it was impossible now to say exactly when... he had lost track of the dates.  
  
But that made him young, like Blues. Only a millenium, perhaps two, older, a difference that was nothing. And for some unknown, bizarre reason, he went by the name of Fred.  
  
"Finished then? That took a fair amount of time, for three wishes!" He said with a smile, eyes bright. He enjoyed his job... almost everyone did. Duties in this place were according to nature, so not liking them showed something was very seriously wrong. Blues shook his head slightly.  
  
"No. I'm having a problem with the last wish. I don't see how I can grant it." His fellow immortal frowned, tapping on his computer.  
  
"That's odd... the wishes usually aren't problems... let's see the first two." He quickly pulled them up, and blinked. "Wow! You got a live one here. Mistiya is going to be so jealous she missed this."  
  
"These wishes are unusual?" Blues asked with a sinking feeling. He'd thought that something was going wrong even before Quick had made his final wish...  
  
"Yeah. I mean, people usually ask for the same old crap... wealth, fame, yadda yadda. Well... his first wish is sorta typical, although he framed it in an interesting way. Could have unpleasant applications, couldn't it?" Blues nodded. Fred had put his finger on something he'd noticed immediately.  
  
Being 'the best at everything he did' didn't necessarily mean just GOOD things. No, all his gifts would be polarized... he'd be the best at computer analysis... the best fighter... the best at getting lost... the best at being clumsy...  
  
"Still, he should be alright. He's only got a few things he'll really stink at. Let's see... ohhh, I like the second. That's cute. A wandering foot, has he? Now the third..." Fred called up the information, and stared at the screen for a long moment. "Holy shit."  
  
"Yes." That was certainly a good way to put his feelings.  
  
"That'll create a new GODLING! We can't do that... can we?" Fred queried his computer, and went pale at the answer. "It, unh... doesn't break the rules, so we, um, have to. But... the luck magic isn't powerful enough to handle it. I'll have to take this up the chain of command. Hold on Blues, I'll be right back." Fred quickly made a print out appear, then disappeared with it. Blues waited patiently, but with a knawing uncertainty. The implications...  
  
It only took a few moments of subjective time for Fred to come back. But this time, he was holding a new piece of paper and wearing a stunned expression. In his other hand, he had a multi-faceted star crystal Blues recognized as a Wilding cluster, a crystallized form of chaotic power.  
  
They were going to make him do this.  
  
"I got referred all the way up to the Incarna." Fred said weakly, and Blues almost winced. "Your Incarna and mine. This is straight from them." That meant it had to be obeyed to the letter. The Incarna were one step below the Celestine, the forces that simply existed and were drawn on by all below them.  
  
Blues carefully read through all the specifications, his lips tightening at several points.  
  
"So, essentially, this must be a perfect mental copy of me. I'm free to change minor details of the body, and the clothing, armor and weapon can be whatever I please." That was some relief at least. He didn't want a perfect double of himself running around. "And I can name him. And these restrictions on his power and behavior..." Fascinating restrictions. Some could be considered good, others were the most brutal of chains.  
  
But then, no Godling was free...  
  
"'Fraid so. Need any help?" Blues shook his head, putting the paper away.  
  
"No. I already have an idea." And he stepped back...  
  
hr  
  
No time had passed in the bar. Or rather, Blues had just returned to the time at which he'd left. Still in the frozen moment outside time, he set to work.  
  
He crushed the Wildling cluster, jerking slightly as pure energy flowed through him into the mold he had waiting for it. Blue and black energy billowed, then solidified.  
  
Before him stood a perfect mirror of himself. Blank red eyes stared ahead, and Blues frowned.  
  
He could change minor physical features...  
  
He quickly ran through several eye colors, and finally settled on an icy purple. That would be a nice, interesting color, especially since he didn't intend to give the copy a visor.  
  
The clothing was quick. Black jeans, black leather jacket. The armor associated with the flash case took longer, but he finally had it. Blue and black armor, with a bit of white... a blue scarf... and a white shuriken on the helmet. He'd decided on his double's primary weapon.  
  
Now for the last thing... the name. A small smile curled his lips as he thought of one that was imminently suitable, and nicely ironic.  
  
"You are Shadow." His shadow, and soon to be Quick's shadow... bound to be with him forever. Shadow could not hear, but the command went out, and it was so. Blues raised a hand, and blinked Shadow out of frozen time.  
  
But as he turned to leave, he felt a slight pang. Was it pity, for his copy...  
  
...Or envy? 


End file.
